Post War?

One of my favorite movies says that "there is always a war to be fought." I didn't really believe that to be true, but when you stop for a moment and really analyze what it means to be a war, I find lots of truth in that statement, especially after reading about post war Guatemala.

This weeks readings were disheartening at best. I have trouble understanding the kidnapping and slaying of teachers in the country. I have read a lot about Northern Uganda and there they abduct the children, brainwash them, and insert them into the Gorilla army. But, abducting and killing teachers, puts me at a loss. The only logical explanation I can imagine for this, is that knowledge is power and power is what is constantly being fought for in Guatemala. Teachers have the power of influencing and empowering the youth, the future, but by taking away teachers you take away the youth's power. The ability to guide the future is a power that cannot be controlled, and I an sure the last thing the rebels want is for the youth to side with the current government and therefore empower them more. I think it also, send a very powerful message by killing those who spend their life giving to others. It's as you are selflessly killing selfless people.

Peace only seemed to last for a moment in Guatemala, post election, two pages to be exact. It seems that for every two steps forward, Guatemala will then take five steps back. There is no perfect way to go about recovering after a long war, but what Guatemala is doing just doesn't seem right. The peace set forth by De Lion Caprio was a band-aid on the issues at the core of the country, which he continues to evade (pg 97). Even though the war in Guatemala is "over" there still seems to be many more battles to be fought in order to make it into the country it could be. The four foundations outlined on page 97 are things that could put the country back into war against itself one day. Without a firm foundation Guatemala will never prosper.